Argentina Detains Venezuelan Cargo Plane Linked to Iran
Argentine authorities detained a Venezuelan cargo plane linked to Iran on the 11th.
According to Iranian and Argentine media, a Boeing 747 cargo plane sold by Iranian Mahan Airlines to Venezuela’s Emtrasur Airlines last year has been detained since it arrived in Buenos Aires on the 8th.
Iran and Venezuela, under U.S. sanctions, have close ties.
The two countries signed a 20-year cooperation plan on the 10th.
Argentina center-left President Alberto Fernandez criticized U.S. sanctions against Venezuela.
Argentina’s Ministry of Interior said it is holding cargo planes because the reason for entering the country was not reported.
According to the Ministry of the Interior, 14 Venezuelans and five Iranians are on board.
Mahan Han has been under U.S. sanctions since 2011 for supporting Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.
It is not clear whether the detained cargo plane was listed on the U.S. sanctions list against Iran. 파워볼사이트
“The ownership of the aircraft was sold to a Venezuelan company a year ago,” Mahan Airlines spokesman Amir Hossein Zolanvari told IRNA.
Zolanvari did not name the Venezuelan company that bought the aircraft.